Improvement in gang-plows



RUNK, BROWN &L MORGAN.

Gang Plow.

v Patent'ed May 22, M866.

UNITED STATES PATENT @nmchi,

JACOB L. RUNK, JAMES H. BROWN, AND ELIAS M. MORGAN, OF NASHVILLE,ILLINOIS.

!MPROVEM ENT IN GANG-PLOWS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 54,963, dated May 22,1866.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, J ACOB L. RUNK, JAMES H. BROWN, and ELIAS M.MORGAN, of Nashville, in the county of Washington and State of Illinois,have made new and useful Improve' ments in Gang-Plows; and we do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of thenature, construction, and operation, sufficient to enable one skilled inthe art to which it appertains to construct and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan or top View of the machine. Figs. 2 and 3 are side elevations of the machine, a part of thebeam being removed in each case to expose the working parts, in Fig. 2the plows being shown in working order, ahd in Fig. 3 the plows beingshown elevated.

The same letters in each figure refer to like parts.

The improvement consists in the means for raising the plows from thesoil, maintaining them in position, elevated or otherwise; and thepecnliar characteristics of the machine consist, first, in attaching theplow-beam to a bolster which is hinged upon the axle; second, inattaching the team to the fore end of the beams of the plow, so as toassist in raising the plow from the ground when the toggle which bracesthe fore end of the beam to the tongue is bent by the hand-lever;third,in the adaptation and arrangement ot' the toggle, which connectsthe beam with the tongue and acts as a brace when in a straight line andas a toggle-lever to depress or raise the beam when it is defiected orstraightened by the motion of a hand -lever connected thereto fourth, inthe combination of the tongue, hinged beam, and the locking stay-hook;tifth, in the arrangement of the hand-lever and connectingrod,which areso pivoted to each other, to the beam,and to a point deriving itssupport from the tongue or carriage as that by the togglemotion thusafforded the front end of the beam shall be drawn forward and downwardupon the hinging point of the beam as a pivot or thrust in the reversedirections by a corresponding motion of the said toggle under theimpulse of the hand lever; sixth, the arrangemont of the portion of thehand-lever which,

with the connecting -rod, forms a toggle as a means of staying thethrust downward of the fore end of the beam under the draft of the team;seventh, the draft-rod attached to a point so far back of the fore endof the plow as not to be materially lowered in position by the downwardmotion of the fore end of the plow-beam; eighth, the arrangement, withthe pivoted beam, of the foot board and `pivoted hand-lever, so that bythe thrust of the feet and the weight of the rider and the draft uponthe hand-lever exerted in opposite directions sim ultaneously the rearend of the plowbeam is raised and the plows elevated from the ground;ninth, the seat-post pivoted to the beam and axle so as to vibrate uponthe latter when the former changes its position, and maintain (to someextent or perfectly) its verticalness and the proper position of theseat; tenth, the mode ot' adjusting the position in a horizontal planeof the tongue, so as to put the plows in or out of land, which isaccomplished by pivoting the rear end of the tongue in 'the axle upon avertical bolt and making the side braces adjustable as to length.

In the drawings, A A are the beams of the plows, so united as to formpractically one piece, which rests upon the bolster B, hinged to theaxle C, upon which are the wheels D D. The plows E E are attached to thestandards F F, which are bolted to the ben-ms. The tongue G is pivotedto an upright bolt in the axle, on which it has a certain amount ot'lateral play in a horizontal plane as the nuts J on the side braces areadjusted to regulate the angle of the tongue to the axle, and therebyput the plows in and out of land.

To the fore end of the plow-beam A (we shall in the future treat itinthe singular number, as it is united to form one piece) is a doubletree,K, which is attached by its central clip to the hook of the draft-rod,the latter being secured to the bolt M in the beam A.

'The seat N is mounted on a post, O, which is pivoted at I? to the beamand at Q to the axle, so that as the hind end ot' the beam Ais elevatedthe post shall be rocked toward the rear and shall not form a rightangle to the beam, as it does when the latter is in working position orhorizontal. By the proportion and arrangement of parts the post 0 may bemade to preserve perfect Verticalness. In the draw ings it is shown asonly approximating to that result.

R is afoot-board on the front end of the beam A, to enable the weight ofthe driver to be exerted in raising the plows from the ground.

S is a hand-lever pivoted to the bolt M, and atits elbow to aconnecting-rod, T, whose lower end is jointed to the rocking arm U,which is pivoted to the tongue and to the link V, with Which it forms atoggle, the members of which are in straight line in the workingposition, Fig. 2, and elbowed in the position, Fig. 3, when the plowsare raised from the ground.

The link V, at its upper end, is swung upon the rod which unites withthe side beams, A A, near the fore end, and which occupies the notches xx in the bar X as the plows are in the positions, Fig.2 or Fi g. 3, inthe former case keeping the plow-beam parallel with the ground until itis thrown forward and out of engagement with the rod W, and in thelatter case holding down the tore end of the plow-beam while the machineis being moved from place to place.

Its operation is as follows: Presuming the 'plow to be in the position,Fig. 2, the plows are in running order, the relative position of thebeam and tongue being maintained by the bar X and also by the toggle VU. When, for any cause, it is desired to raise the plows from the groundthe bar X is thrown forward to unlock the beam, the driver thrusts uponthe foot-board R and draws upon the handlever S, the draft of the teamalso tending to draw down the front end of the plow as the draft-rod Lis attached above the hingingpoint of the bolster on the axle. The drafton the lever S elevates the connecting rod T, bends the toggle U V, andthe notch of the catch-bar X falls over the rod W and retains the plowsin the position, Fig. 3.

When desired to return the plows to the soil the lever is thrustforward, depressing the rod T, rocking the bar U on its pivot, theweight ofthe driver assisting to bring the plow again to the positionshown in Fig. 2. The power of the operator for this purpose is such thatif the plows do not readily sink in the soil the wheels may be'actuallylifted therefrom by' the pressure on the lever, owing to the advantage.in leverage which it possesses,

especially at the point at which the toggle formed by the lower portionof the lever and the connecting-rod approximates a straight position. V

Having described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, i5-

1. The plow-beam attached to a bolster, the latter being hinged orpivoted to the axle or carriage, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

2. Attaching the draft-rod to the beam in such amanner as to utilize thedraft of the team in raising the plows from the ground when the forwardsupport of the beam is removed.

3. The combination ot'the beam A and tongue G, orits equivalent, affixedto the carriage, with the toggleVU, the latter formin g a brace whenstraight and a means, by deflection, of depressing the fore end of thebeam.

4. The combination of the beam A, tongue G, or its equivalent, and thenotched stayhook X.

5. The arrangement of the hand-lever S, connecting rod T, beam A, andcarriage or tongue, operating as described.

6. The arrangement ot' the hand-lever S, connecting-rod T, toggle UV,beam A, and tongue or equivalent, substantially as described andrepresented.

7. Attaehin g the draft-rod to apoint so far removed from the fore endof the beam and above and near the axis of Vibration of the latter as tomaintain the draft-point when the plows are out of the ground at orabout the same height as when in working position.

8. The combination of the beam hinged to the bolster of the foot-board,and pivoted handlever, as described and represented.

9. The seat-post pivoted to the carriage and beam, substantially as andfor the purpose described.

lO. The arrangement for the lateral adjustment of the tongue, for thepurpose described, consisting in the pivoting of the tongue on aVertical bolt in the axle and the side braces, adjustable as to length,as described and represented.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto signed our names in presence ofthe subscribing witnesses.

JACOB L. RUNK. JAMES H. BROWN. ELIAS M. MORGAN.

Witnesses to signature of Jacob L. Runk:

C. D. SMITH, W. F. HALL. Witnesses to signatures of James H. Brown andElias M. Morgan:

I). C. WALKER, JAS. H. MEANS.

